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They say war never changes, but the Fallout games have evolved quite a bit since the first entry in the late ’90s. Set in a post-apocalyptic world that fuses retro technology with sci-fi elements, these RPGs have captured the imagination of millions of gamers.
Anyone looking to play the Fallout games in order will quickly hit a roadblock. There are four numbered entries, but just as many without (plus the hit Amazon show that also fits into the Fallout timeline).
It’s time to pop open your Pip-Boy and read up on the order of the post-apocalyptic series, which spans the best Fallout games and the best way to play them.
Key Takeaways
- ?If you want to play the Fallout games in order, you can either go chronologically or by release date.
- ?There are nine mainline Fallout games in total so far.
- ?The Fallout timeline spans hundreds of years across multiple games and the TV show.
- ?Fallout: New Vegas is considered the best Fallout game in the series.
- ?Multiple developers have worked on Fallout, starting in 1997 with the latest game released in 2018.
Fallout Games in Chronological Order
Playing the Fallout games in order isn’t the same as playing them in the order they were released, or even just by following the numbers. Developer Bethesda has gone back and inserted games before, between, and after games over time which forces you to pay closer attention to the Fallout timeline if you want to keep everything straight.
Fallout Games in Order of Release Date
The downside to playing the Fallout games in chronological order is that you will be bouncing between games made very recently, and others made decades ago that are in a completely different genre.
That can be a jarring transition for most, so an alternate way to experience the series would be to go through the Fallout games in release order for classic and modern gameplay experiences.
Fallout Games Ranked
Between 1997 and today, Fallout games have taken a lot of different paths as the series has changed hands. Multiple teams have put their own spin on the franchise to varying degrees of success, but a few have managed to capture the perfect balance of tone, exploration, and RPG elements that fans have championed as the best.
Presenting Techopedia’s list of the Fallout games ranked from worst to best.
9. Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel
Only the most hardcore Fallout fans will have even heard of Brotherhood of Steel (the game, not the faction, of course). That’s because it is a spin-off made by Interplay Entertainment that plays like a top-down shooter with little to no RPG elements to speak of. It was criticized for being boring, repetitive, and simply not giving players any of the things they wanted from a Fallout game.
8. Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel
Despite having almost identical names, Fallout Tactics is bad for very different reasons than Brotherhood of Steel. Thankfully this game does stick closer to the gameplay styles of the original games, but with a tactical twist.
There’s actually plenty to like if you’re into that genre, but it does show its age, and you are expected to understand some slightly archaic systems before playing. The story is also fairly good but has no connections to any game before or after, leaving it feeling a bit unimportant in the grand scheme of things.
7. Fallout Shelter
Of all the Fallout games, you probably wouldn’t expect a mobile spin-off to rank above anything else. Granted, it is far from being one of the best Fallout games, but it is surprisingly good for what it is. Instead of playing as a Vault Dweller exploring the wasteland, you play as an overseer managing your own Vault and its inhabitants. It is a simple but addicting little management sim that does a great job of matching the dark humor of the series despite the genre shift.
6. Fallout 76
If we were creating our Fallout games ranked list just a few years ago, Fallout 76 would probably be at the bottom. On paper, a multiplayer Fallout world to explore, do quests, and level up with friends sounds great. In execution, well, it took a few years before Fallout 76 actually delivered on any of those things. Now, the game actually runs well, there are NPCs and interesting quests, and things worth grinding for. Still, it can’t hold a candle to the more focused and dynamic single-player offerings.
5. Fallout 4
The biggest problem with Fallout 4 is that it feels like Fallout 3 again, only with most of the RPG elements stripped out or dumbed down. The SPECIAL system was streamlined to the point where you only had a few ways to customize your build, the voiced protagonist gave you far fewer options in terms of dialogue options, and the new base building felt more like a chore than anything else. Most people did love the new region, and some of the DLC recaptured a lot of what the main game lacked from prior entries but still ended up feeling like a watered-down Fallout game.
4. Fallout
The first of all Fallout games, Fallout only struggles because it is a bit too ambitious for its own good. It is trying to establish a wide and deep lore while also giving you a more personal goal to achieve, plus delivering a satisfying RPG all at once. It does most of those things very well, but is hard to go back to now from a gameplay perspective. Just a few too many of those old design trends end up tainting those bright moments and prevent them from shining as bright as they should.
3. Fallout 2
Coming out only one year later, Fallout 2 is a clear improvement on the first game. So many issues with the first were cleaned up for the sequel, and the aspects that we all loved, like branching dialogue, multiple ways to solve quests, and the game recognizing our decisions and skills, were all expanded upon. The biggest improvement was ditching the strict time limit the first one had so we would fully enjoy exploring the world and doing side content.
2. Fallout 3
When Bethesda took over making Fallout games, it realized that the old top-down style wasn’t appealing to modern audiences anymore. Taking a page from its own Elder Scrolls series, it transformed Fallout into a fully open-world game and took it all the way across the country to the ruins of Washington DC It kept all the iconic imagery and items from the past games, but smartly tweaked and added to them to fit the new perspective. VATs in particular were not only a showpiece but an ingenious way to make the game approachable to RPG fans who may not be as familiar with first-person shooters.
1. Fallout: New Vegas
The only real negatives that can be levied at it are bugs (it’s essentially held together with tape at some points), but by now, they are essentially all cleaned up (especially if you look into adding some mods). Beyond being the best Fallout game, New Vegas may even be the best RPG in general.
This is all due to two main factors: freedom and choices. Almost immediately, the game lets you decide where you want to go and who you want to be. Even though all the games are RPGs, this is the only one that really lets you play whatever role you want and react to that.
Fallout Timeline Explained
If you just look at the games, the Fallout timeline begins in the far future, but the universe has been fleshed out dating all the way back to the 1700s to explain exactly how things ended up in the sorry state you find them in.
Rather than go through every single minor detail that won’t have any bearing on the Fallout games, we will just cover the important events of the Fallout timeline.
The Bottom Line
When it comes to playing the Fallout games in order, you have your preference of going with the order they were released, or chronologically.
The benefit of playing Fallout in release order is that you will generally have a smooth upward trend in quality from game to game, whereas playing in chronological order can be a little shocking, going from a modern open-world game to a 2D, top-down turn-based RPG.
Because each game (with the exception of Fallout and Fallout 2) is set in a different part of the country, it isn’t strictly necessary to follow the Fallout timeline to enjoy the games. You will get a deeper picture of the world being created here, but each game is certainly enjoyable as a stand-alone experience.
